Sword and Sorcery Collection (Roger Corman's Cult Classics)

These are some of my favorite B movies of all time - real guilty pleasures! Nothing beats a low budget barbarian film to lift the spirits! These films have never looked better. However, my favorite of the 4 films, Deathstalker II, appears in a cut version here. This Deathstalker II version has its pros and cons.The Deathstalker II version in this set is the "Director's approved cut of the film" which is different in many ways from the previous DVD version which was released by New Concorde. The "director's cut" visually looks much better than the previous release. The image is widescreen and looks properly framed. The image is brighter and the colors look great. The previous DVD release often looked dark and murky. The film now looks magnificent!However, the "director's cut" has a shorter running time than the previous release. Two scenes have been deleted entirely and there are numerous cuts to other scenes and dialogue. The back of the new Shout Factory case gives the film a running time of 85 minutes - my DVD player has the film's running time as 77 minutes. The previous New Concorde release box gave a running time of 85 minutes, but the film actually ran 88 minutes. Accordingly, this new release is 11 minutes shorter than the previous release!I did a side by side comparison with 2 TV's and the cuts can be listed as follows (the time marker given is that of the new Shout Factory release):11:00 - some dialogue between Deathstalker and Reena is missing12:45 - some dialogue between Deathstalker and Reena is missing16:45 - some dialogue between Sultana and Jarek is missing17:44 - an entire scene between Sultana and Evie is cut18:00 - some dialogue between Deathstalker and Reena is missing18:45 - At the meeting between Chin and Sultana in the tavern the stock footage from Deathstalker I has been removed32:35 - Stock footage from Deathstalker I has been removed and the following scene between Edie and the dwarf has been shortened by a few seconds48:00 - Some footage of the celebration after Deathstalker's defeat of Queen Kong has been deleted49:00 - Some dialogue between Deathsalker and the Queen of the Amazons has been deleted51:49 - Some dialogue between Sultana and Reena has been deleted55:45 - Establishing shots outside of castle (stock footage) has been deleted58:25 - an entire scene with Reena and the Amazon Queen getting a massage is deleted59:00 - Some dialogue between Deathstalker and Sultana has been deleted1:07:00 - Some stock footage of fighting (taken from Roger Corman's Amazons movie is deleted)1:08:45 - Some stock footage of fighting (taken from Roger Corman's Amazons movie is deleted)1:12:18 - Shots of cheering crowds and a triumphant Deathstalker and Reena with their arms raised looking at the crowds have been deletedDue to the above cuts, the director's commentary track has also been edited down to match the footage.The above cuts make the film seem tighter, faster paced and more serious. However, some of the dialogue which was cut was funny and absurd (whether intentional or not) and was a big part of the film's charm. I also miss the two scenes which were entirely deleted from the new release. Of the two cuts, I prefer the previous version on the New Concorde DVD.Regardless of the above, the film is still great and a lot of fun.I highly recommend this dvd set to any fans of barbarian action films!

Great Product. great price

A typical Corman production, maybe not his best.

This movie set is a real joy. With big hair, bare-chested (and not just the men) barbarian tales of the 80s, the plots are simple but at least they generally make sense. The four collected here are better than bottom of the barrel Italian Fantasy and deserve to be called cult classics. The best movie of the bunch is probably Deathstalker 2 for pure Fantasy fun, which really could have gone by any other name since the amusing lead actor is not the same (and there seems to be a tongue-in-cheek nod to that fact during the movie in a comment from one of the characters). Barbarian Queen is also quite fun since the ladies get to turn the tables on brutal invading men but no question it is going to offend the easily offended with a few too many violent nude scenes. I had not watched most of these except the David Carradine one before, but found them all enjoyable in their own way. Don't count on all of the heroes surviving in these movies - no one is safe, and the tension in the battle scenes is fueled by this fact. A quick dagger in the stomach can end it all. "Core" characters - even likable ones - get killed off frequently, something that modern Fantasy movies could learn from. Where do these films fall short? Must be in the rubber monsters and poor special effects, but these can be charmingly retro as well since movies today might turn to equally fake-looking CGI.

Great

Ok

Sword And Sorcery CollectionA 2 DVD set featuring 4 classic movies from the 1980's. The picture and sound quality are excellent. Movies in this set includeDeathstalkerDeathstalker 2Barbarian QueenThe Warrior And The Sorceress👍👍From Texas T

When it comes to schlocky, low budget "Conan the Barbarian" knock-offs none has a worse reputation than the "Deathstalker" tetralogy. Despite the entire series being completely inept and the lowest common denominator when it comes to filmmaking, it still has a small legion of cult fans... me included. These are just campy delights with unlikeable barbaric anti-heroes, buxom heroines that bare it all and shoddy effects. Basically the series is a B-movie fanatics dream come true.Included in this quadruple feature, released though Shout Factory's wonderful 'Roger Corman Cult Classics' line, are the first two entries into the series. Both were previously released on DVD in Full Screen versions from the now defunct company New Concorde. These OOP releases were going for tons of money from secondary sellers and now we fans can get these films in this wonderful bargain set which contains both films in brand new anamorphic widescreen transfers! Thankfully the hilarious and insightful audio commentary for "Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans" (seriously one of the most entertaining commentaries I have ever heard) from the previous DVD release is included. To top it off a brand new audio commentary is included for the first "Deathstalker" film!About a year ago Shout Factory released a double feature of "Barbarian Queen" and "The Warrior and the Sorceress" that was exclusively sold on their website, no doubt because they thought there wasn't a big enough fan base to warrant a wide release. As a bonus they throw this disc in with the first two "Deathstalker" films. Both are only anamorphic widescreen transfers and are far better than the previous out-of-print New Concorde releases.This is a highly enjoyable collection of delightfully awful and campy sword & sorcery flicks but I had to deduct the release to a four star rating for one mistake. The mistake is that Shout Factory should have released two volumes of quadruple sword & sorcery features with the first containing all four "Deathstalker" films. Seriously why didn't they put all four "Deathstalker" films into one collection? Yes parts 3 & 4 are by far the worst but it would have been great to have all four in one collection (Part III has never even been given an official DVD release in America). The second volume should have contained "Barbarian Queen I & II", "The Warrior and the Sorceress" and "Amazons". This makes me worry that "Deathstalker III & IV", "Barbarian Queen II" and "Amazons" won't get another DVD release but I can keep my fingers crossed.... hopefully this set sells well to prove to Shout Factory that there are fans of these silly S&S films.For people who want to complete their "Deathstalker" and "Barbarian Queen" franchises, you can still purchase the old out-of-print New Concorde releases of "Deathstalker 4" and "Barbarian Queen 2 - The Empress Strikes Back". "Deathstalker 3 The Warriors From Hell" was given a NTSC/Region 0 release in the Philippines and can be bought as a pricy import.